IEA: Coal Will Be As Big As Oil In 5 Years

"Coal’s share of the global energy mix continues to rise, and by
2017 coal will come close to surpassing oil as the world’s top
energy source," says the IEA in its Medium Term Coal MarketReport released
today.

The world will burn 4.32 billion tonnes of oil equivalent
(btoe) of coal by 2017, putting it nearly on par with oil as the
most consumed energy.

However, the worldwide rate of coal use growth will actually slow
in the coming years.

But Asian demand will put consumption levels just behind oil's,
which will total 4.40 btoe in 2017.

China will soon surpass the rest of the world in coal
demand and India will become the largest seaborne coal importer
and second-largest consumer, surpassing the United States, the
report says.

That demand will not be enough to save U.S. coal
manufacturers. The IEA cuts its U.S. production forecast from
last year's report to 697 million tons of coal equivalent from
771 mtce.